Preface of Praise: 2nd Advent Preface

This is the second of the two prefaces used in Advent.  For some thoughts on the first one, click here.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

For all the oracles of the prophets foretold Him, 

the Virgin Mother longed for Him 

with love beyond all telling, 

John the Baptist sang of His coming 

and proclaimed His presence when He came.

It is by His gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of His Nativity, 

so that He may find us watchful in prayer

and exultant in His praise.  

And so, with Angels and Archangels...

After the usual introduction, the preface mentions the oracles of the prophets twice.  Yes, the prophets foretold Him: Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, and more prepared the way of the Lord in the Old Testament.  The preface then names two figures who were objects of some of the prophecies, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.  In 1:23, Matthew directs us to Isaiah 7:14: "behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel."  Both Matthew and Luke cite the Old Testament prophet, saying that John the Baptist "is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"  The duo of Mary and John exemplify the Advent virtues of waiting, faithfulness, and preparing for the Messiah.

The inclusion of Mary in this preface is a good reminder to us that this is her special season.  She's the perfect model for us in any aspect of Christian living, but in Advent especially.  She displayed great trust in God to accept His plan of the Incarnation.  When her cousin Elizabeth exclaimed joy at Mary's coming, Mary's response was a song of praise to God: "my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord..."  She could have given any other response ("thanks, nice to see you too") and chose to praise God.  If

The final portion of the preface references Jesus' coming in a way that includes in three tenses.  We rejoice that He has come already, in the past tense.  He was born, grew up, engaged in His public ministry, was put to death, and rose from the dead.  Christ also comes to us in the present--entering the hearts of all of us, if we let Him.  Conversion is an ongoing process that we should be engaging in until our dying day.  The third and final coming is Christ's triumphant return at the end of time; all things will be revealed, and we'll see a new heaven and a new earth.

All that, encapsulated in one prayer!  In the prefaces, we pray with the entire Church, as she urges us along with the Lord, to "put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch" (Luke 5:4).  

Preface of Praise: 1st Advent Preface

There are two prefaces used for the four Sundays of Advent; the great solemnity of Christmas has three prefaces.  Neither of the Advent prefaces are assigned to a particular Sunday, so I assume it's up to the presider as to which he uses.

The preface has the usual beginning:

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

...but that shouldn't mean we gloss over it.  We have a duty to give thanks to God, given how HUGE of a gift He gave us.  We may feel that this an odd way of thinking--like the Church is saying that we're forced to have such an attitude.  Doesn't that fly in the face of our God-given free will?  It's understandable to have that thought, but it's missing an important element: the magnitude of God's gift to humanity.  Eternal life!  The promise of infinite love!  Can we really thank God enough??  In light of that, is it really that much of a stretch to say that we have a duty to offer temporal, finite thanks for an eternal, awesome gift?

For He assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh,
and so fulfilled the design You formed long ago,
and opened for us the way to eternal salvation,
that, when He comes again in glory and majesty,
and all is at last made manifest,
we who watch for that day
may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope.
And so, with Angels and Archangels...

The first two lines harken back to Eden.  Lest we forget, sin wasn't part of what God wanted for humanity.  It was humanity that chose sin, and thereby ushered suffering into the world.  God wasn't content to leave us to our own devices--through Jesus, the way, the Truth, and the life, the "way for eternal salvation" was shown to us.

One big theme in this preface appears twice: Jesus' coming, the literal meaning of the word "advent.  The missionary impetus of the Catholic Church grew out of Jesus' command at the end of His first coming (go to the final few verses of Matthew's gospel) and anticipated His second coming.  We just finished up a couple weeks of second coming/end of the world readings at Mass and it's a subject of which the Church reminds us.  Remember: look ahead to the life to come.  Take care of your soul, for we never know when the Lord will call us home.

What awaits us is "the great promise" of our Lord, the author and deepest desire of our hearts!

Easter Prefaces

I’ve written about prefaces before, and it’s a great thing to come back to: they encapsulate many tenets of the faith in a few short lines.  The function of the preface is to kick off the Eucharistic Prayer—after the priest calls upon the assembly to lift up our hearts to the Lord, they respond that it is right and just. 

Why is it right and just?  The preface answers the question!  It lists the mysteries of salvation.  The priest is reminding us that, when we sing the Holy, Holy, Holy, we should really rejoice and give praise to the Lord. 

We always have cause to give praise to God for all He has done for us/in us… but the Easter season is something extra special.  The prefaces reflect that quite literally.  I’ll pull a Fr. Z and put my comments in bold.  Each of the five Easter prefaces start with the same sentence:

“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, at all times to acclaim you, O Lord,

(this is similar to the formula used in other prefaces—but wait, there’s more!)

but in this time above all to laud you yet more gloriously,

(let’s remember that the Paschal Mystery is THE foundational narrative to our faith, it’s a huge deal)

when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.”

(notice the emphasis on sacrifice and the tie to the Passover)

 

That extra part of the first sentence of the preface is overflowing with meaning.  If the Paschal Mystery is THE foundational narrative to the New Testament, the Passover was THE foundational narrative to the Old Testament.  It marked a new chapter in Israel’s history, cemented their identity as the Chosen People, and featured the direct involvement of God stepping into human history and saving His Chosen People.  The Paschal Mystery accomplished those same three things and is the perfect fulfillment of the Passover!  And if we really want to set our nets out into the deep, our thoughts could drift to…

• the Lamb of God and the Eucharist.  None of the gospel writers note that a lamb was eaten at the meal, but for a Passover meal to be a true Passover meal, as Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (formerly-named Rosalind Moss) would emphasize, you had to eat the lamb.  They all consumed the first Eucharist... hmmm... and one of Jesus' titles was one given by John the Baptist: the Lamb of God.  Hmm, Jesus is also called that in the Book of Revelation...  

• the events of the Passover and the flight from Egypt saw the Israelites passing through water to be delivered from their pursuers… prefiguring baptism!  And within baptism, we’re reminded of the intimate unity we have with the Lord and our Church in the Mystical Body of Christ… the missionary zeal that the Lord assigned us, to go out to all the nations… it even leads into the other sacraments of initiation, confirmation and Eucharist.  

And we didn't even get into the specialized text of the prefaces!  More on that for another day.  

Preface of Praise: Easter! Alleluia!

Easter is a feast of great joy!  Alleluia, He is risen, as He said!  I've written before about the beautiful, laudatory theology nested in the prefaces for Mass; the Easter season is a very fitting time to write about them again.

There are 5 prefaces for the Easter season.  Here is the first:

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, 
at all times to acclaim you, O Lord, 
but [on this night / on this day / in this time] above all to laud you yet more gloriously, 
when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.
For He is the true Lamb Who has taken away the sins of the world; 
by dying He has destroyed our death, 
and by rising, restored our life. 
Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, 
every land, every people exults in your praise, 
and even the heavenly Powers, with the angelic hosts, 
sing together the unending hymn of your glory, as they acclaim... 

Note in the third line that the preface can be used for the Easter Vigil ("on this night"), Easter Sunday ("on this day"), or during the rest of the Easter season ("in this time").

I really love how the preface reflects the heightened celebration.  While every Mass celebrates the resurrection of the Lord, the Easter liturgies do this par excellence.  The Easter Vigil has the Exultet and 9 readings, guiding the faithful in the story of salvation history.  The Easter Sunday Mass has the sequence "Victimae Paschali Laudes" inserted between the second reading and the long-awaited alleluia.  In short, there's extra.  If one foreign to Catholic liturgy were to go to a Sunday Mass in ordinary time, and then go to Mass on Easter Sunday, he/she would see lots of extra.  Extra servers; infrequently-used incense; brighter hymns (hopefully); the giant paschal candle in the sanctuary; and all the rest.  By all those touches, the Church is telling us just how important this celebration is.  Pull out all the stops!  There is something incredible here that we're celebrating!

The preface picks up that tone--we praise God like we usually do, yes, but at Easter "yet more gloriously"!  Yes, the fruit of the Spirit is joy, and Christians ideally display that, but at Easter we are "overcome with paschal joy"!

Lastly, we need to highlight the title that is given to Jesus: Lamb.  This carries with it multiple scriptural allusions: John the Baptist naming Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the many references in the book of Revelation.  Most of all, however, a lamb is one of the most important parts of the Passover (Exodus 12).  Hebrew families in Egypt were to buy a lamb, kill it, eat it, and then spread the blood on the doorposts of their house.

The Eucharist that we share in fulfills the Passover meal!  Like the ancient Hebrews, we, too, eat the Lamb Who was slain.  And, only by the shedding of the lamb's blood were the Hebrews spared.  By the shedding of Jesus the Lamb's blood, humanity was redeemed and spared the eternal punishments we would otherwise deserve.

SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS!!!

The Sunday Preface

Here is (most) of the Preface from Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  Reflection follows:

 

In the waters of the Jordan,

You revealed with signs and wonders a new Baptism,

so that through the voice that came down from heaven,

we might come to believe in Your Word dwelling among us,

and by the Spirit's descending in the likeness of a dove,

we might know that Christ Your Servant

has been anointed with the oil of gladnes

and sent to bring the good news to the poor.

 

Just like the Epiphany preface, I'm amazed at how much is packed into this.  The major themes:

 

1) Baptism

2) Revelation

3) the Trinity

4) the Incarnation (since this feast liturgically closes the Christmas season)

5) the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament

6) Christian mission

 

That's a lot to chew on... a few notes. 

 

When God chose to reveal Himself to mankind, He did so in a specific way.  He used words (not to mention the Word) and deeds.  I think it's analagous to the sacraments having matter and form.  God didn't speak to men and follow up with an "or else."  God didn't just promise His fidelity to the Israelites in Egypt (words)--He raised up Moses and led the Chosen People to freedom (deeds).  When Jesus taught and preached (words), He also performed miracles (deeds).  In this preface, we first hear of deeds ("signs and wonders") and then words ("the voice that came down from heaven").  It is the pattern of revelation. 

 

All three Persons of the Trinity make an appearance in this preface, which is very appropriate.  The entire Trinity was present at the Baptism of the Lord.  The Trinity also is a key to Baptism; on it hinges the validity of a baptism.  In Matt 28:19-20, Jesus commands the disciples to preach the Gospel to the world, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Interestingly, Mormon baptism is considered invalid by the Catholic Chruch because of their deficient trinitarian theology.  To close the preface, we are pointed to the image of Jesus being sent... it is mentioned as His mission, but it's one that we all share in.  It's an essential part of Christian baptism. 

 

The closing three lines point to Jesus as the Messiah.  In this, I see the yearnings of the Hebrews.  Living through the Temple getting destroyed... the devastating Babylonian exile... hearing the promises of Isaiah, Jeremiah... praying the Psalms and having irresistable thoughts of the glories of King David's court... remembering the Exodus at Passover, longing for a new Moses...

 

Israel hoped and prayed for centuries; now Christians pray that the whole world "might know that Christ Your Servant has been anointed with the oil of gladness and sent to bring the good news to the poor."  (citing Luke 4:18-19, which references Isaiah 61:1-2)

Preface of Praise

Sadly, it's all too easy to be at Mass and have the attention span of a 5 year old.  I miss out on various prayers, readings, etc. if I'm not careful--despite my best efforts. One of those areas is the Preface.  I think the best explanation of the function of the Preface came from one of my teachers, Fr. Paschal: it's a hymn of what we have to be thankful for.  After listing those things, how can we do anything but join in the song of the angels?

The theology in the feast-specific texts is wonderful.  The new translation has restored the poetic, prosaic feel of these beautiful prayers.  They're packed with meaning!  For example, here is the rest of the Preface for the feast of the Epiphany:

For today you have revealed the mystery
of our salvation in Christ
as a light for the nations,
and, when He appeared in our mortal nature,
you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature. 

Once we bring God into any equation, mystery necessarily follows.  God revealed Himself to us, and also His plan of salvation.  How else would we have known of God had He not revealed Himself?  And, of course, when we talk about revelation, we have the wonderful gift of the Scriptures and of Tradition.

We're reminded that Christ came to offer salvation to us--something mysterious in itself, since it's rooted in God's unbounded love for mankind.  Why did God create us, why did He go to such lengths to point us toward salvation, when mankind did nothing on its own to deserve it?  Love, love, love!

The use of the phrase "light to the nations" is rooted in the Scriptures (cf. John 8:12) but also in Vatican II.  The primary document of the council, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, begins with the words "Christ is the light of the world."  Later in that first paragraph:

"Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission." (LG #1... read the whole document here)

In a sense, that sentence takes John 8:12, Jesus saying "I am the light of the world," and transforms it into a mission statement.  The Church aims to be a bright, shining star to the world, drawing the nations to the love of God.  And on the feast of the Epiphany, this idea of the Church being a light to the nations has a much more proximate image: that of the star that led the magi to Bethlehem.

Back to the preface.  The two closing lines recall the mystery of the incarnation ("when He appeared in our mortal nature"), as this feast directly references Christmas.  The final line points us toward baptism ("made us new"), which is the portal by which we would come to be a part of the Church, the light to the nations.  Talk of Jesus' mortal and immortal nature also brings up the hypostatic union--that Jesus is fully God and fully human.  Nice heavy dose of Christology to top it off.

A recap of the major themes covered in this preface:

1. Revelation
2. Salvation
3. Ecclesiology (the Church as a light to the world)
4. the Incarnation
5. Baptism
6. Christology

Take in a nice deep breath of that... good stuff.  It's all there to those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.  And let's join the angels in praising God!